TITLE OF PROJECT: Witches in the Family (Undergraduate Project)
PROJECT INFORMATION
Writer and Women’s Studies Research Center scholar, Penina Adelman, is working on a
fictionalized family memoir titled, Witches in the Family, which she hopes to complete within the
next five years. Ms. Adelman can trace her family back to the mid-19th century in Russia with
actual documentation; before that period, the memoir is fictionalized, beginning with Creation
according to the Hebrew Bible and extra-Biblical sources and continuing into the 21st century.
Ms. Adelman is looking for an intern to help research background for the medieval period in Europe
(1200’s to 1600’s), the period of the rise of the Hasidic movement in Eastern Europe (1700’s1800’s) and the period of the migration of Eastern European Jews to the United States from the
turn of the 19th century through World War II. Given the time available for this summer internship,
she expects to delve into only one, possibly two of these periods. The work will involve library
research (40%), internet research (40%), and summarizing the research in an annotated
bibliography, as well as discussion with Ms. Adelman (20%).
PROFILE OF APPROPRIATE CANDIDATE
 Demonstrated love of research, reading and scholarship
 Strong library skills
 Excellent reading comprehension
 Organized; ability to clearly document findings
 Good oral and written communication skills
 Ability to provide meaningful feedback on a work in progress
 Self-motivated and independent worker